BD - Chapter 249 - Completing the Victor-Bee

Metsaitti did not reply at first and the rest of his team took up positions in the room. The karnuq moved to block any other exits, the monster bee archers pointed their stingers towards the spiderkin, and the monster bee battlecasters began their dance. The spiderkin laughed, which turned into another hacking cough.

“Don’t worry, I won’t be around much longer even if you don’t kill me. I took a cloud of death cap smoke to the face, I have to sustain my body with magic just to avoid dying immediately. My compliments to your alchemists, turning death cap into smoke was a bold choice. I approve.”

Metsaitti frowned.

“Doesn’t mean you’re not a threat. Why should we speak with you now?”

She grinned at him.

“I’m dead either way…but now that you’re here, I could use my last mana to take this room and everyone in it with me. Or I could go quietly without any more fuss, your choice. Or rather…” She looked directly at the bees and grinned. “…it’s not his choice, now is it, Sacred Den Master? I know Sacred Den Masters can see through the eyes of their monsters, so it cost you nothing to listen, right?”

Metsaitti kept his spear up but sent Belissar a mental question.

“I guess she’s right that it’s your decision, Tower Keeper. How would you like us to handle this?”

Belissar frowned. It seemed very late to try and talk now, after there had been a fight with casualties on both sides. But the spiderkin’s threat did worry him. If she was able to bring down that room somehow, all the blessed karnuq and full squads of archers and battlecasters would be a heavy price to pay.

“Let’s see what she wants.”

Metsaitti grunted.

“He asks what do you want?”

Her smile grew and she waved to the eggs behind her.

“You’ve already won. Most of my warriors are dead, the last survivors have scattered and fled. I myself will die within the hour. You have succeeded in destroying us. I only wish to inform you that my unhatched children belong to you, the victor. They are of no threat to you now and I have removed all traps intended to defend them. You may take them and do as you please without fear.”

She had another coughing fit and her mana started diminishing rapidly. She couldn’t hide a wince even as she tried to hold her grin.

“I will say this…should you spare them and claim them as your own, then they will serve you well, as slaves and soldiers both. Consider as much when you decide their fate.”

She slowly closed her eyes.

“That’s all I wished to say. Congratulations on your victory…Sacred Den Master…”

Her mana died down as she trailed off and then she moved no further. The bees and karnuq kept an eye on her for a minute more but she did not stir or speak again. Metsaitti turned to the bees.

“Tower Keeper, what is your command?”

Belissar shrugged.

“Guess we’ll take them back to the Tower.”

 Metsaitti furrowed his brow.

“Are you sure? They will be capable of fighting once they hatch.”

Belissar frowned. Try as he might, he just couldn’t see the eggs lying there as a threat.

“We’ll bring them back for now, and we’ll discuss what to do with them with everyone. Hang on, I’m going to send some bees to help.”

Metsaitti saluted.

“As you will, Tower Keeper.”

Belissar asked the Second of the Sixth to send some medicinal bees to check on the eggs and advise their transport. Once they confirmed it was safe to move the eggs, the monster bee trapper headed into the chamber and repurposed the webs hanging around into nets the bees could lift. The monster bee archers took up the job this time and began carrying the eggs one by one. The karnuq watching seemed uncomfortable, Belissar guessed he’d have to talk to them about this.

That would be a discussion for later, though. For now, the battle was won and the spiderkin scattered. The threat was over and that meant it was time for a celebration…and a memorial.

***

Fourth Queen Pezuya watched as giant, bluish-green monster bee tapped its antennae against one of her fallen warrior. It took all her self-control not to push the monster away. She’d nearly struck the bees when they began stinging her wounded. Only when the karnuq explained what they were and showed the bees doing the same to their wounded did she allow it.

And only because the warrior in question was going to die regardless. Not to say that Pezuya wouldn’t react if the monster hurt him further, but at the very least it would not change his fate if the karnuq had lied to her. The monsters had then eased her suspicion a bit when they removed the arrows and immediately sealed the wounds with wax. That, at least, she could acknowledge as helpful.

The monster’s antennae began to glow with mana and the warrior groaned. Pezuya bit her lip but stayed her hand and continued watching. It seemed like an age…but, eventually, the monster bee crawled away and danced to her. A karnuq standing nearby translated.

“She says he should survive now.”

Pezuya walked over and knelt down to examine the warrior more closely. While he was still clearly in pain, his breathing had steadied and color was returning to his face. She’d have to have her own healers check on him but…from Pezuya’s own experience, there was a good chance he’d make it now. There had been none before the monster bee intervened.

Pezuya rose to her feet and then bowed to the monster bee.

“Thank you, you’ve saved his life. I will not forget this debt.”

The monster bee replied by just asking where the next wounded was. Pezuya gladly showed her. She then shook her head at herself.

And to think she had wanted to attack the Tower Keeper. After getting a firsthand view of just how bad an idea that would’ve been, she could only thank Second Queen Berbiya for forcing the peace deal through. But now…now Pezuya had more reasons than fear to ensure this alliance endured…

***

The army made their way back to the Tower. Belissar invited the sigmaka to join them for the memorial and celebration and Fourth Queen Pezuya agreed, as she had entrusted the Second of the Sixth with her wounded for the time being.

Not wanting to attract scavenging monsters, the army also gathered the spiderkin corpses. The bees asked Belissar if they should take them to the butcher room…but Belissar declined. The idea of the butchers feeding on humanoid corpses unsettled him, though he knew that one day the butchers would probably end up fighting the Tower Guard with all that would imply. For now, though, the butchers had sufficient meat, and Belissar was worried about spiderkin corpses potentially rising as undead later if he left them in the corpse pile. So, this time the spiderkin were buried near the Memorial, like the human attackers before them.

Belissar then placed each of the fallen bees in the Memorial beehouse, watching as additional tallies were added to their hives listed on the pillar. He bowed his head with tears in his eyes.

“Thank you all for protecting the Tower. Everyone is safe now, thanks to you.”

The Memorial and the Shrine of Bees nearby began to glow softly. The bee carvings on the pillars began to dance and Niobee lead the Tower’s bees to join them. The karnuq, along with Hirkolos, saluted together, while Sehfitis clasped his hands and bowed his head as well. Fourth Queen Pezuya turned and nodded to her warriors before she saluted as well, the rest of the sigmaka following a moment later. Tarwantrad, Nenavann, and Tamosmed bowed their heads off to the side. Even Princess Finnakynne was silent for the moment.

Belissar took a deep breath after the bees finished their dance. He force himself to smile as he turned around to face everyone.

“Let’s celebrate their victory.”

The Tower filled with cheers and buzzing.

***

When the celebrations began to wind down, Belissar took his council to the side to discuss the end of the battle, and the spiderkin eggs. He invited the Circle dungeon masters and Fourth Queen Pezuya to join since they had participated in the fight. Hirkolos and Sehfitis joined as well, in case they had any information relevant to the situation.

“So, the spiderkin queen left behind a dozen eggs and said they belong to us now. We need to discuss how to handle them.”

Hirkolos frowned, his face darkening.

“The Tower Guards’ training…recommends destroying them. But, that’s in the course of destroying the entire nest. I don’t know if that applies now…and, to be honest, I’d really prefer we didn’t…”

Nenavann was about to interject, but Belissar immediately scowled and shook his head.

“No. We destroyed the nest, like the Tower Lords would, but that’s it. We aren’t going to be like the Tower Lords and kill harmless children.”

Nenavann and Hirkolos both looked relieved, but Chief Rohsuak’s face scrunched up.

“Tower Keeper, I don’t intend to oppose you but…please consider that these children might not be harmless. When they hatch, they will be grown enough to fight…”

Belissar growled at her, surprising himself and her. He took a deep breath before continuing.

“Look, if that happens, we’ll deal with it. But I am NOT going to be a Tower Lord and kill off children! We beat an entire nest of them, we can handle twelve kids!”

Chief Rohsuak flinched, her eyes going wide. She furrowed her brow and then bowed her head.

“You have my apologies, Tower Keeper. I spoke out of line. We will…do as you command.”

Belissar took another deep breath, trying to calm himself as he found he was trembling. He shook his head. Chief Rohsuak looked apologetic, as did Metsaitti.

Nenavann came over and patted Belissar’s shoulder.

“For what it’s worth, I approve of your stance, Belissar. I’m greatly relieved by it, in fact. I acknowledge that the adult spiderkin didn’t leave you much choice, but I could not have approved of you killing their children. You truly are well-suited to the Circle’s ideals.”

Belissar let out a sigh.

“Any advice on what to do with them, though?”

Nenavann rubbed his chin.

“I don’t know much about how the spiderkin were raised, either in the days past or in current times. But even the most vicious predator has an important role within an ecosystem. I believe that if you approach them as you normally do everything else, you will find a place for them within your Tower.”

Belissar nodded back. While he wished Nenavann could’ve given him more specific advice, it was nice to know the older dungeon master believed it would work out. The fire in his chest eased up just a bit.

He turned to Fourth Queen Pezuya.

“What do you think about this?”

Fourth Queen Pezuya hummed to herself for a moment before responding.

“My people only know the spiderkin as raiders and enemies. I can say we would not be willing to take on extra mouths to feed from our enemies, so we will leave them to you, Tower Keeper. As long as they respect our agreements as all your other subjects do, I will have no complaints even if you raise your own spiderkin nest.”

Metsaitti’s eyes widened as he turned to face the sigmaka.

“You’d be fine even with a new spiderkin nest on your border?”

Fourth Queen Pezuya shrugged.

“Tower Keeper Belissar already has hives of monster bees on our border and yet has upheld all of our agreements. If anyone can keep the spiderkin under control, he can.”

Metsaitti furrowed his brow at that. Belissar had one more group to ask…though he figured he knew their response already.

“What about you, Niobee, and the queens? What do you think about taking care of the spiderkin eggs?”

Niobee responded immediately and most of the queens followed her.

“Whatever King chooses!”

Belissar just had to chuckle at the expected response. He then waited to see if any of the queens had anything more to say. He noticed the First of the Fifth’s First Daughter exchanging dances for pheromones with the stingless queen. He waited until they finished and the First Daughter came to dance before him.

“Stingless queen says when her queen mother conquered other hives, would send new queen to take over. Surviving bees join new hive if not kicked out. Is normal.”

Belissar smiled. Well, if it was normal for the bees, then that settled it.

“Got it. Would you queens be able to take care of the eggs for now? I think it might be hard for the karnuq?”

Belissar glanced at Chief Rohsuak, who nodded with an apologetic frown, before returning his attention to the bee queens. As with every request he had ever made of them, they were enthusiastically dancing a salute.

And so, the dust settled on the fight with the spiderkin.

Author’s Note:

Well, if that’s how the bees do it, then that’s how we’ll do it! To be fair, quick googling is giving me somewhat conflicting information on exactly what happens after a bee war. One article says the winners remove the remaining bees and the young from the hive before taking over, some says they just place a new queen and she takes over. Dunno, seems to be a relatively new area of study that’s not fully understood since it’s mainly just certain species of Australian stingless bees that do full-on conquests (or, at least, that’s the first species we’ve noticed it happening regularly), honeybees and South American stingless bees apparently prefer to just rob the other hive (though saw an anecdote from one beekeeper where a robbing hive later took over the beehouse).

Guess we could say it’s similar to re-queening or combining hives by beekeepers?

Anyways!

Will the spiderkin eggs serve Belissar well? Will they cause trouble in the future? Can the bees raise non-bees to bee standards? Tune in next time, to find out!